Some told to get TB tests after US Airways flight to AZ

PHOENIX (AP) -

Authorities are trying to determine whether a man who flew into Phoenix has tuberculosis, but a public health official says any risk to passengers on his flight is extremely low even if it turns out he does have the infectious respiratory illness.

About 70 passengers on the US Airways Express flight on Saturday from Austin, Texas, were kept on board until after responders boarded and removed the man, who was asked to put on a medical mask.

US Airways spokesman Bill McGlahsen says the airline was notified after the plane departed Austin that the passenger's status had been changed to "no-fly" because of an unspecified medical condition.

Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine is medical director of Maricopa County's disease control division. She says the man is being tested at a hospital.

Sunenshine says any risk of spreading tuberculosis on the flight -- if the man even has TB -- would have been extremely low because the man was not coughing or sneezing.

Tuberculosis is a respiratory disease that can be fatal. The Centers for Disease Control says it is spread through the air.

Here in the city that's home to "University-6," as the University of Louisville is identified in a federal criminal complaint filed by the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the feeling of devastation is exceeded only by anger and disbelief.

Here in the city that's home to "University-6," as the University of Louisville is identified in a federal criminal complaint filed by the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the feeling of devastation is exceeded only by anger and disbelief.